A Passion Sunday Thought as We Approach Jerusalem
We follow Our Lord as He approaches what awaits Him in Jerusalem. While few do this any more, our Catholic churches used to cover their statues in purple cloth beginning on this day, which was knows as "Passion Sunday" or the "First Sunday in Passiontide." This beautiful practice helped us better focus our attention; it helped us meditate on the events of Holy Week.
As so we draw closer to Jerusalem and the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Our thoughts turn first to His unspeakable suffering, summarized by St Thomas: “The pain suffered by our Lord was the greatest pain possible in this life.” He took all our sins onto Himself. Alban Goodier wrote: “There was no man’s shame and confusion, no man’s remorse and desperation, no man’s agony of sorrow and repentance, that Jesus did not share in that dread hour in the garden.” Yet with all that, Our Lord knew that some of us would be obstinate in our refusal to see, to benefit from HIs terrible suffering, through indifference, ingratitude, outright hatred. Even for so many of us who do in fact see, He could perceive and even feel, during His Agony in the Garden, the lukewarm response we give in return for His unfettered, infinite love.
When we think of His Passion, do we remember that what we do or neglect to do now had a direct affect on Him then? Of course, in His glory, He doesn’t now suffer, but He surely did then. Will we continue to be a source of agony and suffering to Him in the Garden, during His trial, His scourging, His carrying of His Cross and, finally His Crucifixion and Death? Or will we finally comfort and console Him by turning away from our self-centered sinfulness and turn towards Him Who shows us the unimaginable depths of His love in His Passion and Death?
As so we draw closer to Jerusalem and the Passion, Death and Resurrection of Our Lord. Our thoughts turn first to His unspeakable suffering, summarized by St Thomas: “The pain suffered by our Lord was the greatest pain possible in this life.” He took all our sins onto Himself. Alban Goodier wrote: “There was no man’s shame and confusion, no man’s remorse and desperation, no man’s agony of sorrow and repentance, that Jesus did not share in that dread hour in the garden.” Yet with all that, Our Lord knew that some of us would be obstinate in our refusal to see, to benefit from HIs terrible suffering, through indifference, ingratitude, outright hatred. Even for so many of us who do in fact see, He could perceive and even feel, during His Agony in the Garden, the lukewarm response we give in return for His unfettered, infinite love.
When we think of His Passion, do we remember that what we do or neglect to do now had a direct affect on Him then? Of course, in His glory, He doesn’t now suffer, but He surely did then. Will we continue to be a source of agony and suffering to Him in the Garden, during His trial, His scourging, His carrying of His Cross and, finally His Crucifixion and Death? Or will we finally comfort and console Him by turning away from our self-centered sinfulness and turn towards Him Who shows us the unimaginable depths of His love in His Passion and Death?
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